Grain-car door.



. PATENTED SE1-T.1,19oa. J. THOMPSON. 1

GRAIN GAR DOOR.

APPLIOATION FILED M Y 9, 1907.

' A 2 SHEETS-SHEET L Prg. i...

Arme/VHS l -PTENTED SEPT. l, 1908.

J. THOMPSON( GRAIN GAR DUUR.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

l /NVEA/TOH dildo/J Thon .W/TNESSES A TTOHNEYS iran srrrrns VHirnirr Fries.

JACOB THOMPSON, OF GARRETSON, SOUTH DALOTA, ASSIG-'OR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE F. ROSE, OFOOLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO GRAIN-CAR DOOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1908.

Application led May 9,1907. Serial No. 372,756.

wou d occur around the door of an ordinary freight car and whereby time and expense in opening the door may be saved.

- The invention comprises two sliding doors preferablvof steelsliding wit-hin steel casings on the inner side of the car' and so constructed that when the. doors are not being used they may be. moved along steel tracks out of the. way and effectively vconcealed within the casin.

Reierence is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specific ation, in which similar characters of reference indicate 'corresponding parts in all the figures in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a car equipped with my improved inner door and havin Y the customary outer door on theoutside; ion 2 is a plan of the ear with a portion of the roofjremoved to more clearly disclose my improvements; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of 1n improved doors taken on the line 3 3 of ig. 4 Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 and enlarged to the same scale as Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is a vertical section through the doorway, showing the inner doors open.-'

My improved grain car door is capable of being applied to any ordinary freight car and may becompletel y removed from the ear without leaving the lat-ter disligured or injured in any way.

My improvements involve two casings 6 located on the inner wall of the car and on 'the o i osito sides of the main car entrano-c J and these casings are of sullicient width and depth to receive my improved inner doors 7, arranged to slide on tracks 8 into these easings. The doors 7 are of simple construction and are of sufficient strength to withstand the pressure of a load of grain when applied against theni from the inner side. Each of the doors 7 has a groove cut in the under side and extending throughout the entire length of the door and upon the inner surface ol' which there are preferably provided a plurality of anti-friction rollers S). in the lower edge ofeach of the doors lits on an upwardly-extending flange on the track S and the door may be easily moved into the. casing or out in its operative position along The groove ce this track One of the doors is preferably e5 provided with ai groove 10, along its outer vertical edge, into which the baille 11 ol the opposite door lits when the 'two are brought together in the position shown in Fig. 1.

This serves to hold the. doors in perfect alinement, as does also the trat-.lg with its flange extending up into the gloovein the bottom of the door. y

To' rigidly hold the doors at their upper ends when inra closed position and to prevontany accidental opening of the doors yto permit of the escape of the grain, I provide a locking means comprisingV a channelshaped member having downwardly-extending flanges 12 and 13, and spaced apart by` S' a web 14. which latter is substantially as Wide as the door is thick, so that when the doors are closed the channel may be dropped downward on the top of the two doors and serve to hold their upper ends in alinement. S5

The front flange 12 is preferably provided with holes 15 coinciding with similar holes in the upper edge of the door, andthe channel member carries two or morey pins 1,6, which may be inserted through thecorresponding CIO holes 15 of the flange and of the doors to hold Athem in their. closed position. These. pins may, 'if desired, be secured to the channel member by short chains, so that there is no danger of the pins becoming accidentally displaced or lost. Before opening the doors the pins 16 must, of course. be removed although the channel is ]neferably left inV place until the grain or other eonnnodity pressing against the door on the inner side be re- 10G moved. The. channel is then raised free 'from the doors and supported upon hooks IT on the inner wall 'of the ear near the roof and above the door opening, so that this channel member will be entirely outot' the -way and 1W' one may freely enter the door opening. The ends of the channel member are preferablyv secured to the 'inner wall of the car by shortchains 1S of suiiicient length to permit ol' the channel being secured to the top of the slidy .be perfectly unobstructed when the small sliding doors are removed back into their casmgs, I preferably make the track of two sections, each of whichis hinged at the point 19 just inside its correspondin casing and .which may be moved on said hinge into the vertical position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and in full lines in Fig. 5. The ends of these two track sections may, if desired, be cut at an angle or one of them providedr with a groove and the other with a'correspondingflange, so that the tracks will always be in alinement when resting upon the floor of a car, as shown in Fig. 4.

When the car is loaded with grain and it is desired to unload the same it is often found that it is practically impossible to move the v inner door unless some special means be proyided,'.as the pressure of the grain against the side of a car causes it to bind against the track and floorof the car. To overcome this, I provide a pipe 20, extending from one of the casi s 6to the end ol.` the door in the car and t rough this extends a chain or cord 21 having one end thereof rigidly secured to the adjacent door, and haing the other `end extending to a drum 22 located on the outer end of the car. Any suitable means for ro'- tating this drum may be provided, assfor instance, a lever 23 and pawl and ratchet 24. By rotating the drum the chain is Withdrawn from the car and one of the-slidingdoors is drawn back into its casing and the' grain may then-be removed. If desired, both of the inner sliding doors may be provided with this means for opening them but usually one will be suihcient, for as soon as'one of the doors'is o ened in this'way, pressure may be brought 'rectly against the edge of the opposite door and it .may be opened without very much trouble.

As the doors when o ened are moved back into the casings beyon the front edges thereof and the track sections are swung up into the casings to effectively conceal the front edges of the doors,fit is often difficult to obtain a secure enough hold upon the door to pull it out of its casing in order to close the same. To obviate this difficulty, I provide each door with a sliding strip 25 secured thereto in any suitable manner but prefer-` ably by a screw-bolt 26 passing through a slot 27 in the strip. The strip is secured to the countersunk panel portion ol the door and its outer edge lies flush with the edge of the door, but the door frame is cut away to permit of its passage and prevent it from pro- ]ecting beyond the surface of the door. The

outer end of each strip is provided with a hook or catch 28 adapted to abut against the door casing, and as the door is. drawn or pushed back into its casing the hook 28 prevents the strip from passing in more than a certain predetermined distance. The horizontal flange ofthe track S is provided witlia notch or cut-away portion 29 to )ermit of the resting of the track in a vertica position while the strip 25 still extends out from the.

protecting casing of the door. The ends of the strips at the hooks 28 may be provided with any suitable form of handle, so that after the track has been dropped down to its horizontal position, the door may be pulled out by means of this handle and the stripV 25. A suitable pin or other means 30 may be employed for holding the track in its vertical position when the caris being unloaded or when it is not employed for the shipment of grain.

The car has the customary outer sliding door 31, fitting in grooves 32 and 33 at the bottom and to respectivelyhand as a lock Amay be applie to this door 1t is unnecessary to lock the inner door. Furthermore, the inner door preferably does not extend as high as the outer door for -it is not customary'to load the grain cars to the very roof thereof.

The threshold of the door is preferablyformed of a steel plate 34, to prevent the car voor from wearing away at tl'us'portion, thus causing the track to it the ear floor unevenl and permitting the escape oi grain beneat the said track.

Vhen the car is loaded withi grain all the parts are in the position shown 1n Fig. 1, and when it is desired to unload the car, the pins 16 are withdrawn and the channel bar raised up to its position beneath the roof of the car and supported on the hooks 17. One of the doors is then opened by means of the lever 23, thenl the other door may be easily opened 'and the' two track sections, when secured in place by the pins 30, raised to their vertical position shown in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A car having two laterally sliding doors movable from and toward each other, a detachable channel member adapted to mclose the upper edges of the doors, and means for locking the doors to said channel when they jacent edges of which are in engagement with each other when the doors are in their closed position, a channel member adapted to be placed over the upper horizontal edges of sai d doors when in t ieir closed position, and means for securing the channel to said doors, to normally prevent their being opened.

'4. A car having two inner sliding doors, casings for receiving said doors whenthe latter are in their open position, and tracks upon which said doors slide, said tracks being hinged and adapted to be swung up into said casing to protect the edges of the doors when the latter are opened.

5. A car, comprising two inner sliding doors, casings inclosing said doors, hinged track sections adapted to be swung kon their hinges into said casings when the doors are opened, and means for holding said Vtrack sections within said casings.

6. A car having an opening in one wall thereof, a door slidably mounted to close said opening, a casing inclosing said door when in its open position, and a track upon which said door may slide, said track being hinged adjacent the edge of the car opening and movable to a position adjacent the front edge ofthe door when the latter is in its open position and serving to close the front side of theI casing.

7.. A car having a doorway in one wall thereof, a slidable door for closing said doorway, a strip secured to said door and slidable in relation thereto and in the direction of movement of said door, said strip having a projection adapted to engage with the car wall at the edge of the doorway and serving as means whereby the door may be drawn to a closed position in front 0f` said doorway, and a track upon which said door may slide, said track having a section hinged adjacent the edge of the doorway movable t-o a position adjacent the front edge of said door and having an opening for the reception of the end of said strip.

8. A car having a Idoorway in one wall thereof, a slidable door for closing said doorway, means extending beyond theedge of the doorway when the door is in its open position for facilitating the closing -of said door, and a trackupon which said door may slide, said track having a section hinged adjacent the edge of the doorway and movable to a position adjacent the front edge of the door, said section having an opening for the recep* tion of said means.

9. A car, comprising two slidable doors, strips secured to cach of said doors movable in relation thereto, hooks on the ends of said strips adapted to engage with the car wall and by which the doors may be closed, hinged track sections upon which said doors slide, and means whereby said track sections may be moved to a vertical position, said track sections being provided with cutaway portions to receive thehooks on said strips.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB THOMPSON.

Witnesses z E. E. Cnoss, W. J. WEST. 

